Day 1

Hey Friends!

      So, recently I have been inspired by my friend who challenged herself to post for 100 days straight for the things she was thankful for in her life, or for the things that made her happy. What struck me was the fact that she CHOSE to do it, no one challenged her to do it, it wasn't a homework assignment for a college writing class, she truly and genuinely WANTED to do it! Reading her posts have got me thinking, "Hey, this seems like a really good and fun thing to do, why don't I try it?" So, here is Day 1 of 100 happy days :)
     
         Today, I am happy for one of the greatest youth leaders that I've had in my life, Miss Erin Barrett. Erin has a way of seeing right through the "mask" I put on to convince everyone that I'm ok, which I admit, can be VERY frustrating at times, because you can't hide ANYTHING from her, but she truly and genuinely cares about me, and will not be fed that same, "Oh, I'm fine, how are you?" crap.

      In eighth grade, our church came up with the "Brilliant" idea to combine the high school and middle school students for Sunday School...WORST.IDEA.EVER!!!!!! Just imagine, being in a room of complete strangers, who are all older than you, and half of them are one of your siblings friends, yeah...that's where I was. But then there was Erin, bright and chipper, and excited to meet all the new students, and I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "This is the stupidest thing ever...why is she sooo excited?" And that's how we met, she led me as a shy, terrified, frustrated, and awkward eighth grader, and did eventually break through my "tough" outer core ;)

     As I entered high school, more struggles and hurdles were thrown my way, and Erin did an amazing job once again. My best friend's sister was studying abroad in Malaysia, and she was having a really hard time with it. Erin(being Erin) could see that this was really hard for her and wasted no time at all "adopting" us into her group of senior girls that she led. From that point on, she was basically my mom/leader/friend/mentor/sister and so much more. Sophomore year began with the exciting news that Erin would get to be our small group leader, and I was beyond thrilled! The next year of small group included tears, laughs, bible studies, coloring(don't ask...), baked goods, and so many other marvelous things, and without Erin, our sophomore small group would NOT have been the same.
      
        The last two years of high school were by far the hardest, and through the struggles, and the nights of crying and praying, Erin stood by my side through it all, never ceasing to encourage and uplift me. Then, another tornado was thrown my way, the summer of my junior year, Erin announced that she was MOVING! Instantly, my heart broke, and I basically felt like I could just collapse into a ball of tears at any moment, BUT God knew what he was doing! He knew that the move would be good for both of us. We still talk on the phone frequently, and we're just as close as when we lived 10 minutes away from each other. Erin, I hope you had the most fantastical amazingly awesome 30th birthday, if I helped to make it even a FRACTION of how fantastical amazingly awesome YOU are, I think that's a success!! Erin is the most happy, outgoing, smiley, peppy, energetic, bubbly, and loving person I have ever met, literally a truck could hit her and just keep driving, and I would not be at ALL surprised if she just popped back up with that huge smile on her face and say, "I'm good!!". Basically, she's superwoman...;) I hope my blogs speak to you, and encourage you to count the blessings in your life, and feel free to leave comments below!
<3 Always,
Rose